Cycles of Violence provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of how norms, rules, and procedures of decision-making cohere into a decision regime. Ranan D. Kuperman balances careful theoretical discussion with a case study, to track the evolution of a decision regime over time. Focusing on the regime governing Israeli use of limited military force and using quantitative historical analysis as well as qualitative historical surveys, Kuperman uses previously unpublished documents from the 1950s and 1960s to generate a new interpretation of historical events. Cycles of Violence is more than just another examination of the Arab-Israeli conflict; indeed, the methodology and theoretical models developed for this analysis can be replicated for any situation where decision-makers are confronted with a repeated sequence of problems. This book is essential reading for scholars and researchers of the Middle East and security issues.